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John D. Graham, Ph.D. Appointed to NSF International Board of Directors

March 6, 2014

John D. Graham, Ph.D.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — NSF International, a global public health and safety organization, has appointed John D. Graham, Ph.D., Dean of the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, to its board of directors.

Dr. Graham has a distinguished record in the related fields of risk analysis, management and communication. He served for seventeen years as a faculty member at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he founded and led the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. The Center is recognized globally for its work on environmental protection, injury prevention and medical technology. Earlier in his career, he served as staff associate to Chairman Howard Raiffa’s Committee on Risk and Decision Making of the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

In 1995 Dr. Graham was elected President of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) where he organized the first World Congress on Risk Analysis with representatives from Europe, Japan, China, Australia, Canada and the United States. As a scholar, he is best known for comparing the costs and effectiveness of 500 lifesaving programs in medicine, public health and environmental health.

Dr. Graham left Harvard in 2001 when President George W. Bush nominated him to serve as Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Office of Management and Budget. As a Senate-confirmed official (2001-2006), he led the statistical and regulatory-review activities of the federal government and fostered new regulations that saved lives, prevented disease and advanced environmental protection. He also played a pioneering role in new collaborative efforts at regulatory coordination between the European Union and the United States.

In 2008, Dr. Graham assumed the Deanship of the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs (Bloomington and Indianapolis), one of the largest public affairs schools in the US. The School has about 2000 undergraduate majors, over 500 master’s students and about 100 doctoral students. The 100 full-time faculty include laboratory scientists, social scientists, lawyers and policy specialists.

“We are very happy to welcome Dr. John Graham to the NSF International Board of Directors,” said NSF Board Chair Richard Rabbideau. “John shares NSF’s commitment to protecting and improving human health and the environment, and his wealth of expertise in disease and injury prevention as well as risk and policy analysis will be invaluable as we continue to expand our public health mission on a global scale.”

“I am delighted to join NSF International, which has a vital protective mission and is expanding operations throughout the world,” said Dr. Graham.

Throughout his career Dr. Graham has presented and published hundreds of papers on risk analysis for business leaders, government officials and the media including contributing to John Stossel’s ABC special, “Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?” He also has presented invited testimony to the European Commission, UK Parliament and U.S. House and Senate Committees.

Dr. Graham has earned numerous awards for his risk management work including SRA’s highest honor of excellence, the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award. Senator Patrick Moynihan honored Dr. Graham for bringing risk analysis insights to federal clean-air legislation. Additional awards include an Outstanding Service Award from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for developing and supporting the National Agenda for Injury Control; an Annapolis Center Annual Public Service Award for Achievements in Risk Communication to the American People; and a Carnegie Mellon University Alumni Merit Award. Dr. Graham was recently elected membership in the National Academy of Public Administration.

Dr. Graham earned his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University. His dissertation on automobile safety was cited in pro-airbag decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole. Additionally, he holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and economics from Wake Forest University and a master’s degree in public policy from Duke University.

About NSF International: NSF International is an independent global organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products for the food, water, health sciences and consumer goods industries to minimize adverse health effects and protect the environment (nsf.org). Founded in 1944, NSF is committed to protecting human health and safety worldwide. NSF International is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Food Safety, Water Quality and Indoor Environment.